Doha: Baladna Food Industries, Qatar’s main producer of fresh dairy, has entered into the fruit juice market. The Qatari company’s juice products in six different flavours have already hit the local market, announced a senior official of the company yesterday.
Baladna’s 100 percent natural fruit juice with no added sugar, colour and preservatives are made from fruit concentrate. Some of the popular flavours include orange, apple, pineapple, pomegranate, fruit mix, and tropical mix fruits. Currently, they are coming in 1.5-litre bottle format, and are expected to be available in smaller formats as well.
Baladna’s entry to juice sector is being considered a significant step in making the country self-sufficient in the area. After the blockade food and beverages are coming from different parts of the world providing consumers with multiple options, and now with Baladna juice products hitting the market, they will have additional options at more competitive prices.
“We have lots of innovations coming to the Qatari market, especially with regard to juice. We have just started the journey with regard to producing juice. Baladna juice products in six flavours hit the market last week. It is available in many supermarkets and hypermarkets, including LuLu,” Maher Eldaly, Senior
Marketing Director of Baladna, told The Peninsula on the sidelines of an event.
Eldaly added: Before the beginning of this holy month of Ramadan our juice products will be available almost in all retail outlets across the country.”
Asked if the company has plans to reintroduce glass bottles, he said that glass bottles are not very easy to handle and they are also much more expensive than the plastic bottles.
“We need to be prudent with regard to our customers. Plastic bottles are the best solutions available today to cater to the 100 percent need as we are required to be prudent about covering the 100 percent self-sufficiency mission in line with Qatar’s vision. This is a very big responsibility that we are trying to fulfill.”
The company, which was established in 2014 as a small farm, ramped-up production immediately after the blockade in early June 2017. And within a short span of 20 months, it implemented the first and second phases of its huge expansion. Currently, Baladna produces about 320 tonnes of fresh milk from over 30,000 cows; many of them were airlifted from North American countries, that helped the company grab headlines in the local, regional and international media. Eldaly, earlier speaking at a networking event organised by the Canadian Business Council in collaboration with Qatar Australia New Zealand Business Association (QANZBA) yesterday, said that Baladna aims at establishing a solid brand foundation in Qatar and other markets, and constantly investing on innovation and product diversification.
“We are trying to diversify our product range in line with the Qatar’s goal. We have already achieved 100 percent self-sufficiency in terms of fresh milk production and have acquired nearly 95 percent of the market share. With regard to Laban and Yogurt we are meeting nearly 51 percent and 49 percent of the local market demand, respectively,” he said.
